Apparatus for handling metal coils



March 1, 1 J. w. MGMAHON ETAL APPARATUS FOR HANDLING METAL COILS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 8, 1950 M 0 ,5 5M5 mmmwu madam WWW. #5 T NmWm W U HLLV. 0 AA 1 CD A Y B March I, 1955 J. w. MOMAHON EI'AL 2,703,183

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING METAL COILS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 8, 1950 :n v my Fm hum ka d I FL wh llllllllllm INVENTORS JOHN w. MCNAHON,

uleor BlA/V/fi CAL w/v/x W/A/DLE BY & DAV/D EIFOOLE- March 1, 1955 J. w. MCMAHON El'AL 2,703,133

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING METAL COILS Filed Aug. 8. 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 H W m w J 6 m 4 To). a mww C MM M? M w E) E H mxfiw A w Wm? m A? a w IMBMP. r w M L J Lw F Sn A A m 1 -i L H n a L" HHHI "L Q HAMW A 1w J Af m i w L at M w m.

This free end of the piston rod is also connected pivotally to a second link 38 which extends downwardly and is anchored to a stationary member 40 beneath the ramp to assure proper positioning of link 37 during reciprocation of the piston. In operation, the rocker frame engages the forward edge of a coil C travelling down the ramp toward the strapping machine, as shown in Fig. 2; and after a predetermined interval, rocks on its axis, disengaging the leading edge of coil C and then engaging the back edge of said coil and pushing the coil on down the ramp. Frame 32 then rocks back to its original position as the piston is reciprocated to catch the next coil and hold it until the first coil has cleared the strapping machine, whereupon the second one is immediately released and the cycle repeated. The rocker frame may be operated automaticallyby suitable conventional means such as an electrical relay system including a timer or equivalent device, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. rocker may be operated manually by means of a push button control in a similar circuit, the operator pushing the button for each actuation of the piston of cylinder 35.

Adjacent to the upper end of the ramp an entry coil buggy is disposed on flanged tracks 46 extending transversely of the ramp, whereby the buggy may travel across to the ramp to deliver coils thereon in sequence, as will be described. Buggy 45, as illustrated in Fig. 3, comprises a frame 47 mounted on four wheels 48 to run on tracks 46 and has a top surface formed to receive and support a plurality of coils C situated side by side, as shown in Fig. 1. This top surface is curved upwardly away from the direction of coil travel down the ramp whereby the coils carried on the buggy are restrained against travel in the wrong direction. These coils are furthermore restrained against premature travel downwardly of the ramp by means of a guide bar 49 which extends transversely of the ramp adjacent to the upper end thereof and is mounted on a frame 50 which is adjustable to accommodate coils of a wide variety of diameters. The leading end of buggy 45 is formed to define a bridge 52 for alignment with the ramp when the buggy is in its extreme in or loaded position, and has an upright stationary side plate 53. Buggy 45 is driven in its travel across the ramp by an electric motor 55 geared in a conventional manner to one or more of wheels 48 and electrically controlled through a push button circuit to be described.

The other entry coil buggy 57 is disposed above buggy 45 and spaced therefrom and is mounted on flanged tracks 58 extending parallel to tracks 46 for travel transversely of the ramps. Buggy 57 comprises a metal frame mounted on four wheels 59 to run on tracks 58 and has an upper surface to engage and support coils Alternatively, the i C arranged in a group side by side, as shown in Fig. l,

and formed to provide an upwardly sloping portion to engage and restrain the coils carried on the buggy from the travel away from the ramp. As in the case of buggy 45, an adiustable guide bar 60 and frame 61 therefor are provided to support the coils in position on buggy 57 until they are aligned in sequence with the longitudinal axis of the ramp. Frame 61 is suitably the same in construction, mode of operation and effects as frame 50, being adjustable to a wide variety of coil diameters. Buggy 57 is driven by means of an electric motor 63, as described above, control over the operation of this buggy being by means suitably of a push button electric circuit to be described.

Adjacent to the lower end of the ramp and below the oiling machine, a delivery buggy 67 comprising a frame 68 mounted on four wheels 69 to run on a pair of flanged tracks 70 extending transversely of the ramp is provided to receive coils C from the ramp and carry these coils tem orarily in batches in side by side relation. Buggy 67 is driven by a motor 71 suitably geared to one of wheels 69 and is supported on frame 68. Frame 68 has a top portion formed to receive the coils and hold them against motion farther down the ramp course, said top portion being recessed longitudinallv to the extent that auxiliary means like guide bars 49 and 60 5 are not required to assure retention of the coils in place on top of the buggy. The trailing end of frame 68 is shaped to define a bridge 72 for the lower ramp portion to receive coils travelling down the ramp and to transmit them to the lower station. A side guide wall 73 extending along one side of bridge 72 serves as an extension of stationary side guide 11 when buggy 67 is in its extreme out or loaded position.

A second delivery buggy is disposed parallel to and spaced just beyond buggy 67. Like buggy 57, this last and lowermost buggy comprises a frame 77 mounted on four wheels 78 and driven by an electric motor 79 through a suitable conventional gearing arrangement for travel transversely of the ramp on flanged rails 80 provided for the purpose. The top portion of frame 77, however, is of different shape than that of frame 68,. frame 77 being formed substantially symmetrically, as appears in Fig. 2. But here again, no special auxiliary means such as .the guide bar arrangement described above is required to assist in retaining the coils in desired position on buggy 75 until it is desired to remove them for storage or shipment.

Referring now to Fig. 3, it will be apparent how the foregoing apparatus is operated and manually controlled through two independent electric circuits from a control panel on which a number of push buttons are provided to give the operator all the facilities he needs to start, stop and operate the apparatus in any way desired and at practically any rate of production within the limits imposed by the strapping machine and the oiling machine. In tracing out the various circuits, motor 63 which drives buggy 57 is of conventional three-pole, reversible type, and is powered by 220 volt, 3-phase, 60- cycle alternating current. Control of motor 63 is effected through a 250-volt direct current circuit including a push button operatively associated with a conventional solenoid relay 101 to close the gang switch indicated at 105 whereupon motor 63 is driven in a forward direction. A limit switch 106 included in this circuit, automatically opens the circuit when buggy 57 reaches its extreme in position and all the coils carried originally thereby have been unloaded onto the ramp. Thus, until switch 106 is reset manually or automatically, motor 63 cannot be connected to drive buggy 57 farther forward when such movement is not physically possible. A second limit switch 107 is provided in the control circuit and opens automatically when buggy 45 is in the extreme out position to prevent the delivery of coils from buggy 57 except when bridge 52 is in position to receive and support coils leaving buggy 57. Still another limit switch 108 is provided in a circuit with a second push button 109 which serves to reverse the motor 63. A solenoid relay 110 closes a gang switch 112 in response to impulses resulting from actuation of button 109. Limit switch 108 automatically opens when buggy 57 reaches an extreme out position and is ready for forward motion again with a new batch of coils to be processed. Circuit breakers are indicated at 114 while overload relays are shown at 115 and an undervoltage regulator is shown at 117, all to the usual purposes and effects and in conventional relation to each other.

The operating circuit for buggy 45 is basically that for buggy 57 and includes motor 55 like motor 63, and forward and reverse push button controls and 121 with solenoid relays 123 and 124, respectively. A limit switch 126 is provided in this control circuit to open when buggy 45 reaches its extreme -in" position and a second limit switch 127 is provided to open when this buggy reaches its extreme ou position, to the ends stated above.

The strapping machine drive and strapping machine rolls drive operating circuits are shown next below in the diagram and they include the same general threewire operating circuits, the strapping machine rolls drive including a motor 130 and the strapping machine drive including a motor 131. The control circuits are also substantially the same as described above, including forward and reverse push buttons 134 and 135 and solenoid relays 137 and 138, respectively, to make the necessary connections in the operating circuits to operate the strapping machine rolls and the machine drive. However, no limit switch means is provided in the strapping machine rolls drive circuit and none is required because there is no counting or timing operation involved. The strapping machine drive on the other hand requires such limit switch means 140 and it is provided, as shown in the diagram and will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

Motors 142 and 143 are provided to drive the oil pump oiling machine rolls, respectively, and are conneetediiimth'e aforesaid. 220=volt.A. IG.-T3zircuiti andcontifolledf i'n th'e'inoperation. .hy. meangprovided in. said 11?: C. including .the .usual :solerioid and tim ng niechanismsiiiidicated 2.1.1451 and 146 .i'esir'aectivciyz. C limit switches 1:41. and. ldtlaresprovidedgrn operate uuresponse to travet ofithetwohuggiessothat when/deliverygbuggies fliaanduflsgiare.inextreme foutllpositron, thermllpunip and oiling machine rolls will be automatically shut oif, there being no need for their operation until all the bug gies are returned to their starting positions, in which case the limit switches are reset.

Motors 71 and 79 of delivery buggies 67 and 75 disposed at the lower end of the ramp are connected in the said A. C. circuit and are operated by push button mechanisms in the D. C. circuit, as shown in the diagram. As in the entry buggy control circuits, a pair of buttons 1'50 and 151, respectively, are provided for each of the delivery buggies to enable the operator to advance or withdraw the buggies. The usual limit switch means and solenoid relays as described above, are provided in each of these control circuits so that the buggies will not be driven beyond a predetermined extreme position in either direction.

Motor 14 is also of the three-pole reversing-type and is connected in the A. C. circuit to operate side guide 12 of the upper segments of the ramp. The control mechanism for this motor is basically the same 'as in the foregoing cases and includes a forward push button 154 and a reverse push button 155 connected in the control circuit with solenoid relays 156 and 157, respectively, described above.

The adjustable side guides 12 of the lower two segments of the ramp which are operated by motor 19 connected in the same A. C. circuit are controlled in the movement relative to the opposing guides 1'1 by means of forward and reverse push buttons 16!] and 161 respectively, connected loperatively in the said D. C. circuit as described above in reference to motor 14. l

The illustrated apparatus is operated typically in generally the following manner. Entry buggies '45 and 57 are each loaded with six strip stock coils disposed side by side and engaged with each other as shown in Fig. 1, guide bars 49 and 60 being manually ad usted according to the diameter of these coils to assure their proper positioning on the buggy frames. The operator then makes the desired adjustment of the adjustable side guides 12 of both the upper and lower ramp sections so that the coils may run down the ramp without undesirable lateral motion, by manipulation of push buttons 154, 155, 160 and 161. The operator then starts buggy 57 on its travel transversely across the upper end of the ramp by pushing button 100. A second push on button 100 results in the clearance of a coil from guide bar 60 and the coil starts down the ramp course, crossing bridge "52 on the way. This coil is intercepted by rocker frame 32 and stopped momentarily and then released for further travel down the ramp to the strapping machine. The operator then starts the strapping machine rolls and the strapping machine unit by pushing control buttons 134 and 135, and when the strapping is accomplished, the coil is automatically discharged from rolls 25 by the kick-01f mechanism including cylinder 29 and the coil travels down the ramp to oiling station 0. At this pointthe oil pump and the oiling machine rolls drive are started 'automatically so that the coil is rotated in contact with the oiling machine brush and is thoroughly covered with oil to protect it n storage or shipment. Through the action of automatic timing mechanism, the coil is kicked-off the oiling machine rolls and travels to delivery buggy 75, crossing bridge 72 provided by the delivery buggy "67 in its extreme out" position. The operator then pushes one of buttons 15-1 to move buggy 75 into position to receive the next coil.

The same sequence of operation is carried on until the buggy 57 is unloaded of its coils and buggy 7 is fully loaded with coils. 'It will be understood, however, that these operations can be carried out with some variation in sequence to suit the convenience of the operator. For instance, he may actuate button 1100 several times to deliver several coils in quick succession onto the ramp, as indicated in Fig. 2, so that he may later pay closer attention than he otherwise could, to operations along lower portions of the ramp as each of these coils is going through the various stations.

When there is no longer any need tor bridges '52 and 72-, the-operator starts bnggieefifanztfiiontheiii courses across the ramp and delivers'gthec'coils imsuccession onto the ramp generally as described above. The operations along thercoursexofi theirampratthestrapping-and oiling machine stat-ionszrwill beuthe same aetin, the case of the coils delivered by the first buggy. "l hesje bperations are continuediasi. describleclsabo've eachwmovement 'ofibu'g'gy 45 being followed by a substantially equal movement of buggy 67 so that when all of the coils originally on buggy 45 have been discharged onto the ramp and have passed through the stations along the ramp, buggy 67 is disposed to receive the last of them.

In view of the foregoing description of the structure and mode of peration of the illustrated apparatus, it will be apparent that the method of this invention generally described above may take several ditferent forms as set forth in the appended claims. For example, this method may include the steps of delivering a coil to the strapping station, automatically strapping it and discharging the coil from the said station when a predetermined number of straps have been applied to it, next delivering the coil to an oil-ing station and automatically oiling it, and finally automatically discharging the coil from the oiling station after a predetermined interval. The coils may be delivered one at a time onto the ramp so that there would be no necessity for carrying out the intercepting operation to assure clearance of each coil from the strapping station before the next coil arrives there.

Alternatively, this method may be carried out in the sequence of steps including bringing a plurality of coils onto the ramp and toward the strapping station, intercepting the coils and automatically releasing them in sequence at predetermined intervals to the strapping station, rotating the coils individually on the their axes at the strapping station and strapping them .as stated above, and finally automatically discharging the coils in sequence from the strapping station when a predetermined number of straps have been applied to them.

Still further, the method may be carried out without performing the strapping operation by automatically oiling the coils individually as they arrive directly from the intercepting station, and finally automatically discharging the coils in sequence from the oiling station at predetermined intervals.

Preferably, however, the method is carried out so that a plurality of coils are brought toward the strapping station, intercepted and automatically released at predetermined intervals to the strapping station, strapped as described above, and automatically discharged in sequence, then oiled in sequence at an oiling station, and finally automatically discharged from the oiling station in sequence at predetermined intervals.

Having thus described the present invention so that those skilled in the art will be able to gain a better understanding and practice the same, we state that what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is defined in what is claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for handling coils of metal stock comprising a ramp, a stationary side guide wall extending lengthwise along one side of the ramp, a laterally movable side guide wall extending lengthwise adjacent to the other side of the ramp, a pair of coil buggies adjacent to one end of said ramp, one of said buggies having a bridge portion cooperating with the ramp to define an elongated inclined coil travel course, and adjustable coil guide bars adjacent to an extending lengthwise of said buggies and having end portions adjacent to one of said side guide walls to engage and support coils carried by the buggies prior to their delivery onto the ramp by said buggies.

2. Apparatus for handling coils of metal stock comprising a ramp, a stationary side guide wall extending lengthwise along one side of the ramp, a laterally movable side guide wall extending lengthwise adjacent to the other side of the ramp, a pair of coil buggies adjacent to the upper end of said ramp, and a pair of coil buggies adjacent to the lower end of said ramp, the inner member of each pair of buggies having a bridge portion cooperating with the ramp to define an elongated inclined coil travel course, and adjustable coil guide bars adjacent to and extending lengthwise of the buggies adjacent to the upper end of the ramp and having end portions adjacent one of said side guide walls to engage and sup- .7 port coils carried'by the buggies'prior to their delivery onto the ramp by said buggies.

References Cited in the file of this patent I UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,700,697. Draper Jan. 29, 1929 8 Grob Dec..2,' 1930 Young Feb.'10, 1931 Leech et a1. Nov. 3, 1931 Brarnsen et al. J. May 23, 1933 Canfield Aug. 8, 1933 gyant Oct. 16, 1934 111 -July 19, 193 8 

